


Home

by merrihael



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Drabble, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, Pro Volleyball Player Bokuto Koutarou, Sharing a Bed, Sleepiness, bokuaka's dog Lady, engaged Bokuaka, owls in love, whom I love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 07:56:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15990944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merrihael/pseuds/merrihael
Summary: ‘It’s okay,’ Akaashi mumbled, almost incoherently. God, how Bokuto loved his sleepy voice. ‘I’m glad you’re home.’orA soft little thing where an exhausted Bokuto comes home late and sleepily says hello to Akaashi.





	Home

For as long as he could remember, playing on the national team had been Bokuto’s dream, so when he finally achieved it and made the team, he wanted to run through the streets screaming in excitement. It was physically and mentally exhausting, but it was all worth it the moment his team won the finals: when he saw the tears in his teammates’ eyes and Oikawa launched himself at him, screaming. When he saw the thousands of people cheering for him, and he knew there were millions more watching him on TV all over the world. When he gave three starry-eyed boys his autograph, and they called him their hero, and said they wanted to be like him when they grew up. 

 

Before that win, Bokuto had  _ some _ free time. After? He could only dream of it. If he wasn’t training or playing a match, he’d be sent off to countless interviews, photoshoots, TV appearances, press conferences… the list was endless. He liked meeting his fans, he liked talking about his passion, and he liked Oikawa, who he was often paired up with on shows - the setter was fun to be around, and shared his passion for volleyball. But doing all this also meant time away from home, away from Akaashi, and he hated that.

 

Akaashi often said he didn’t mind, that he was happy for him, but Bokuto didn’t miss the sad look in his eyes when Bokuto added his events to their whiteboard calendar and it turned out there wasn’t a single day when he was free, or the way he’d hug the pillow to his chest when Bokuto had to slip out of bed at three in the morning to catch a flight. Akaashi  _ said  _ he didn’t mind, but it secretly made him sad, and Bokuto hated making him sad. He missed his fiancé, he missed being able to make him breakfast in bed and missed the lazy days they used to have.

 

Bokuto checked the time on his phone. It was really late at night, or really early in the morning - he couldn’t really tell when night became morning - it was still dark outside the SUV window, anyway. Or maybe that was the window tint. He was too damn tired to tell. The match itself had taken a lot out of him, and then the endless flow of journalists’ questions… it had been dark before he’d managed to get to the airport. His flight had been delayed, as if to make things worse.

 

His phone screen timed out and he pressed the home button, lighting it up again. On his lockscreen, Akaashi was sitting up in bed, hair mussed, cheeks flushed and eyes disoriented, but smiling. He remembered taking that photo. Akaashi had just woken up, and Bokuto had brought him breakfast - the corner of the tray poked into the bottom corner of the photograph. His chest tightened just from thinking about the way Akaashi had smiled, mumbled a sleepy “good morning”, and the way he’d kissed Bokuto’s cheek as a thank you. He hadn’t had the chance to do that for him in a long time. He hadn’t had the chance to do  _ anything _ for him, and he missed it.

 

The SUV stopped in front of his apartment complex, and Bokuto got out, sleepily thanking the driver. His bag was heavy on his shoulder, and his legs dragged on the concrete as he made his way over to the door. He didn’t even think about taking the stairs and went straight for the lift. It was a few agonizing minutes before the damn thing made it’s creaking way to the bottom floor. 

 

He leaned against the glass wall of the elevator, and looked at himself in the mirror.

 

He looked horrible. Where it poked out from under his hoodie, his hair was horribly tousled from sleeping on the plane and stood out at odd angles. He was pale, and the eyebags under his eyes were enormous. He looked like a ghost of himself, which was more or less how he felt. 

 

He honestly wanted to cry.

 

The elevator played a cheery tune as it made it’s slow ascent to the ninth floor. If he’d been less tired, it would have annoyed him. Instead, he waited patiently until the lift stopped, gave it’s annoying, sharp ding, and the doors slid open and he could shuffle out. 

 

The apartment door was locked. Of course it was locked: Akaashi had long gone to sleep, even if he’d stayed up to watch Bokuto’s match. The last thing Bokuto wanted was for Akaashi to stay up until sunrise to welcome him home, and then drag himself half-awake to work. The guilt at seeing Akaashi shuffle around with bags under his eyes would’ve eaten him alive. He rummaged about for his keys, and unlocked the door.

 

It was dark inside, so he flicked on the light. 

 

Everything was neatly arranged, like it always was. On the little dresser beside the front door, where he usually left his keys, there was a little post-it note.  _ Welcome home, Kou.  _ it said, in Akaashi’s neat handwriting. There was a little heart doodled beside his name. Bokuto smiled, and placed his keys on the dresser as quietly as he could. There was a pair of gray tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt waiting for him on the back of the couch. Delighted to be rid of his tight jeans and changed into something more comfortable, Bokuto slipped them on. 

 

The door to the bedroom was open, and Bokuto peered inside.

 

Akaashi was sound asleep, curled into a little ball. Bokuto could tell he was wearing his sweatshirt - the old Fukurodani one - his nose buried in the soft material. Their dog, Lady, lay next to him, and Akaashi’s hand still lay between her ears, where he’d been petting her while he fell asleep. He looked so lonely that Bokuto’s chest hurt. 

 

When Bokuto stepped into the room, one of the floorboards creaked and Lady lifted her head, Akaashi’s hand falling onto the mattress. She perked up as she recognized him and her tail began to wag, softly drumming against the bed.

 

‘Shhh, Lady,’ Bokuto whispered, afraid she’d bark and startle Akaashi awake. ‘Shhh.’ He gave her a kiss on the nose, like he always did when he came home, and she settled back down. ‘Good girl.’ Careful not to disturb the bed too much, Bokuto climbed in on the other side of Akaashi. The bed was delightfully warm.

 

‘Koutarou?’ Akaashi asked after a moment, voice thick with sleep. Bokuto wanted to kick himself for waking him. 

 

‘I didn’t mean to wake you.’ Bokuto said, as Akaashi turned over to face him, squinting in the dark.

 

‘It’s okay,’ Akaashi mumbled, almost incoherently. God, how Bokuto loved his sleepy voice. He wanted to kiss every inch of the skin exposed to him, but that would be counterproductive to sleeping. He settled for a kiss on Akaashi’s nose. It made Akaashi smile. ‘I’m glad you’re home.’

 

Half-asleep, Akaashi pushed himself up to plant a gentle kiss on Bokuto’s jaw - Bokuto could tell he’d aimed for the cheek, but missed, and it was too damn adorable  - before falling back down and nestling against his chest. Bokuto felt himself grow warm all over as he shuffled down under the covers. He wrapped an arm around Akaashi, pulling him closer. The scent of Akaashi’s shampoo - strawberry and vanilla, he knew - reached his nose and he breathed in deeply. It smelled like home. He was finally home.

 

‘I love you,’ he whispered into Akaashi’s curls, and Akaashi smiled into the dark. Bokuto’s heart skipped a beat.

 

‘Mmm, not as much as I love you,’ came the mumbled reply.

 

‘Oh really?’ Bokuto teased. He was never too tired to argue he loved Akaashi the most. ‘’Cause I love you the most in the whole world.’

 

Half-asleep, Akaashi snorted. ‘Mmm, you win.’

 

Laughing a little to himself, Bokuto closed his eyes. He was finally home, in his bed, his fiancé snuggled up against his chest, their dog softly snoring as she took up half of the bed. It was heaven, even if he was exhausted, even if he had another interview tomorrow… it was all okay.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write something to make myself feel better, and I've been craving a good sleep so.. this happened. Hope y'all liked it. You can yell at me on twitter @[merrihael](https://twitter.com/merrihael), as always.


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